The dog days of summer

This summer has been unbearably HOT! Seriously we feel like we are melting and it's only July. Our poor dog Copper has been miserable. I finally had to break down and take him into the groomer to get his "summer hair cut". When I dropped him off I told the groomer that he hated having a bath, getting shaved and being handled, especially by strangers. (Under stress he has been known to bite!) I didn't know if he would let her get the job done or not. I refused to allow him to be tranquilized. After all ...he's going to be 12 in November. She assured me she would be kind and gentle and if he didn't tolerate it well she would just stop and call me to come and get him at no charge.

My final admonition to her was to be sure to keep him away from other dogs because frankly he's been attacked too many times by dogs left to run loose in our neighborhood so he tends to snap first and ask questions later. She assured me that all would be fine since he was the only animal there at the time. Seconds after I handed her the leash a woman walked into the clinic with a big fru fru poodle that started hopping and jumping around and bounced right over to Copper. As they stood nose to nose I quickly said Ma'am you need to keep your dog away from mine. I'm really sorry but he just doesn't like other dogs and isn't very friendly. All the while Copper is baring his teeth and starting to growl at this hyper poodle. She looked quite offended and said, "But everyone loves Francois!" Fortunately the groomer quickly took Copper to the back before Francois lost one of his pom poms!

I headed home fully prepared that the phone could ring at any moment with a request for me to come back pronto to pick up my mutt. I already had an apology ready for the groomer who no doubt would be covered from head to toe in bandages from a.k.a. Copper scissor teeth! But unbelievably an hour went by ...then two. I was starting to get worried thinking maybe I should just drive by to make sure there wasn't a s.w.a.t. team out side with a negotiator from Petsmart yelling at Copper through a bull horn to open his mouth and release the groomer! After another 45 minutes went by I decided I'd better call thinking surely they need to close at 6 p.m. and if he isn't done by now they'd be locking him in for the night. Surprisingly they said he was a little nervous but did really well. What? Did they mix Copper up with Francois? This is the dog that my daughter had to sing to while I shaved him so I wouldn't get bit!!! They said if I didn't mind that he was still a little wet from his bath I could pick him up any time and by the way ...they are open until 7:00 p.m. Who Knew?

When I saw him I had to laugh. When they said they were going to shave him they weren't kidding around. Our "Copper colored" dog is down to his skin and actually looks white! Picture a chubby version of the Taco Bell dog that recently passed away and you'll have it just about right. Hmmmm ...maybe he should apply to fill the vacancy? Let me know what you think.

Here's the before and after pictures:

When we got him home he wouldn't look me in the eye. He also wouldn't look at the camera. My husband thinks it's because he regards me as the "alpha dog" of the family. I think it's because he's embarrassed because everyone is laughing at him! He may not look cool but at least he'll feel cool!